The Incredible Journey
by Sweevil to the Heart
Summary: After Edward left Charlie got remarried and Bella was forced to move to a different state. But things don't go as planned as disaster takes place and the Cullens race to find Bella again before her future disappears permanently. Bedward! R
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: 'Name's not Stephenie. Therefore, I own nothing.

Prologue to _The Incredible Journey_

BPOV:

This was it. I was going to die and there was no way out of it.

After so long, after this incredible journey I had been subjected too, this was my end. I was going to die here on the other side of the United States and no one could save me, for everyone who would have stood a chance of helping me was either long gone, dead, or I had pushed away in an effort to save them.

And I had. I had saved the one person who never left me, not once, in return for my own life.

She was an angel, a gift from the heavens even though I met her in hell. Or, her definition of hell. My hell had already been put on me long before I met her.

I couldn't help but think what Edward was doing now. Where was my beautiful vampire? I don't think I'll ever get the chance to know, even if I could survive this tidal wave of bad luck that will kill me.

Edward's smile, forever deemed by my memories as too important to forget, flashed in front of my eyes as an illusion. A beautiful, heart-breaking illusion.

I stared at as the water and darkness rose to my throat, getting closer to burying me.

And here I always thought I would get killed by a vampire.

~Sweevil Out!


	2. The First Disaster: I Talk To You

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/n- I now I'm working on lots of stories but this is one of my (currently) get-over-my-writers-block-stories. It shall be good, though. It takes place after NM.

Full Summary: After _he_ left Charlie got remarried and Bella was forced to move to a different state. But things don't go as planned as disaster takes place and the Cullens race to find Bella again before her future disappears permanently.

BPOV:

It was time to move on.

Really, we were in the car headed to Michigan already. Charlie had gotten remarried this Christmas to a really nice lady from Seattle named Josie Stewart. Well, now it's Josie Swan but I think Josie Stewart sounds better; more natural.

That's how names are suppose to go, in my opinion. They are suppose to flow like water and sound natural, like when you see the person's face you could automatically think of the name and it would fit. Like John Smith or Charlie Swan or…Bella Cullen.

_No!_ I mentally screamed. _Not now, you are going to have to move on now Bella, for your own good. And if not your good then Charlie's. This is his chance for love; don't ruin it for him._

"Isabella sweetie, are you thinking about them again? I thought I told you; the less you dwell on the past the faster you can get over it." Josie said in a clear voice but it was quiet enough so that nobody but me heard her. I was still use to listening to hushed things.

Josie was originally one of my mental counselors and was the only one who refused to give up on me, determined to see me get better. Though, when I was told about the engagement I had second thoughts on this concept.

It was on Christmas Eve when they told me and that snapped me right out of the zombie state I was in. Today is February 1st, exactly one month from the New Year's Day wedding that they had. I was a maid of honor along with my mom and one of Josie's friends. Billy, Harry, and Jacob were all best men.

I cried the whole time in happiness for my dad; it was the first time I had been happy since Edward left. And most of that happiness was for my dad, not true happiness at all.

But I also couldn't help but cry a little for what would never be. I would never be able to stand at the alter and tell someone I loved them because I would be lying if it were anyone but Edward. And he was gone.

"Phil, are you sure you're not over the yellow line? I swore I saw you cross it." Renee said her tone worried. I was currently crammed into the back seat with my Josie and Charlie while Phil and Renee took turns driving this five-person car all the way to Detroit. They had offered to drive us saying that they both wanted them to be happy. Josie and Charlie had decided to move there to help give them-and me-a new start.

But I didn't want that. Because if I started a new life and ended up in some foreign land, how would I ever be able to know that Edward was real? Even though in the depths of my heart I know he is, there is still some small portion of me that says leaving Forks would be leaving Edward and the rest of the Cullens behind. And I couldn't do that to them.

Charlie, Phil, and Renee had all tried their best to convince me to leave but none of them could. I was determined to move out and stay in Forks until Josie talked to me alone for the first time ever; she usually only talked to me alone in our sessions and never more than that, saying that I was her patient first and step-child second.

"_Do you care about your father?" She had hissed at me. I had immediately nodded yes._

"_Well if you truly cared about him you would let him move on. He has been so worried that I can't get him to sleep at night. You need to get your ass in shape and GET OVER HIM. He left; deal with it." Her voice was cruel like I had never heard it before and I didn't dare contradict it; she scared me too much. I could only nod in my shocked daze and Josie put on another sugary smile that I now knew was completely fake._

"_Good." She cried and left to tell my family that I had agreed. I sat there for another half an hour wondering how someone like that could ever truly love my father and how my father could ever love them back._

"Why did you leave? I never would have been in this mess if you had just stayed and let me be in danger." I muttered to Edward, wherever he was. I did that a lot, talked to Edward. I knew he couldn't hear me but it made me feel better.

"Isabella." Josie said sharply from beside me; I had a window seat and Charlie had the other with Josie in the middle.

"What?"

"You're making that face again." Josie informed me and I quickly shut off all thoughts of Edward.

Josie told me, in my first session with her in late September, that I made a face when I thought about Edward. My mouth would go into a straight line and my whole face would sort of…die. All outward emotions that would normally be written across my face like a picture book would be thrown into oblivion and my expression would be blank.

My eyes were the worst, she always told me. My chocolate brown colored irises apparently went solid black with some kind of inner darkness that could only be put there by the most unbearable misery anyone has ever felt and most would probably die from.

Or at least, that's what I'm told.

"I'm sure sweetheart; I'm in the middle of the road." Phil assured her. My mom continued to bite her nails, her own stress-prone habit. Mine was biting my bottom lip, something that was less picked on and more socially acceptable.

But my mom continuously asked Phil if he was driving correctly, worried that something would happen. Josie asked her why she was so worrisome and Renee replied that she just had a feeling that something was off balance. Ever since we left the borders of Forks Renee has been like this so I guess things have been 'off balance' since then.

That's how feels to me too, though I didn't say anything. It felt like the world has been thrown off it's axis since I said goodbye to those moss-covered trees and old plain buildings. Like part of me was missing.

But I had felt like that since Edward left so a little more power to that feeling didn't alert me to anything.

"I say we listen to some music. This highway is starting to get a little boring; all there is to see is trees! See what music stations you can get a hold of." Josie said. Charlie nodded in agreement, his eyes glazed over as he stared at her. I refrained from gagging.

"How about that Foo Fighters CD you got Bella?" Renee asked. She knew that was the only music I would listen to anymore; everything else reminded me of Edward. I nodded, happy that I wouldn't have to listen to some romantic pop crap, or even worse, classical music.

Most music tore the hole in my chest right open but this CD I had burned from some of Angela's Foo Fighters collection-she's obsessed with that band- was only tolerable because the heavy cords and powerful drumming droned out all thought and, somehow, left me feeling oddly at peace. Or, as much at peace as I could ever be with Edward out of my life. I oddly felt I could connect with their songs and since Edward didn't have them in his CD collection, they were the perfect band.

Renee put the CD in; Josie pouted at Charlie but when Charlie saw the look of slight happiness on my face at the sound of the intro to the first song, he shushed her.

Josie didn't like Foo Fighters, saying their type of music was 'bad for children to listen to'. I wasn't a child; I was eighteen for heaven's sake! Charlie let me listen to it til Josie said that hard, emotional rock music made depressed teens more likely to commit suicide. Charlie had me off of the music for a week before I finally snapped and stole the CD from his bedroom, listening to it til he got home. My ears were ringing by then with how loud I got it but Charlie let it go when he saw contentment on my face. This particular band was just, well, just made sense.

_Were you born to resist or be abused?_

_Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?_

_Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?_

_Are you gone and onto someone new?_

_I needed somewhere to hang my head_

_Without your noose_

_You gave me something that I didn't have_

_But had no use_

_I was too weak to give in_

_Too strong to lose_

_My heart is under arrest again_

_But I break loose_

_My head is giving me life or death_

_But I can't choose_

_I swear I'll never give in_

_I refuse_

_Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?_

_Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?_

_Has someone taken your faith?_

_Its real, the pain you feel_

_You trust, you must confess_

I leaned against the seat as I listened to the song, letting my broken heart connect to the words. Someone was getting the best of me, but I would have let him even if I had known beforehand that he would leave. Because he worth every minute of the pain. I would take another century's worth of pain if I could see his face, his real living face, again.

My mom continued to fidget and bark questions at Phil while I faded into a blank slumber; for I no longer dreamed my crazy dreams since my vampire left me.

EPOV:

I was in pain.

I guess I would always be in pain no matter what. It the only constant in my existence. When I was alone, the pain of loneliness captured my heart. When I met Bella, the pain of her scent scorched my throat like never before. When I fell in love with her, the pain of knowing I would kill her, kill this beautiful creature and turn her into a demon like me, tortured my happiness.

And now, being separated from said beautiful creature rips my body and mind to pieces. I can't think straight anymore without a thought of her creeping into my head. I constantly curse my ability to think about multiple things at once.

I was currently in my new room at Tanya's house in Denali. I was staying in my room 24/7, refusing to come out. Tanya, Kate, Irina, Carmen, and Eleazar all tried to get me out until Esme and Alice explained why I was locked up in here. They all stopped after that and sent comforting thoughts when they passed my room or thought about me.

Both Carlisle and Jasper were amazed with my ability to let my grief take over my life. I hadn't moved in two months and hadn't hunted in even more. My eyes were the sickest black I had ever seen them but the burn was only a tiny fragment of the immense pain I felt from being separated.

I sighed quietly and tried-stupidly-to distract myself with Alice's thoughts. Her flighty personality always left me a step behind, along with everyone else. It wasn't boring to be in her thoughts unless she thought about clothes or B-

_The pure black car turned a sharp corner, the driver unable to see the oncoming truck due to the massive trees blocking the way. It tried to turn way too late and the left side got slammed into by the solid steel front._

_It was instantly crushed and went scooting off the road while the truck driver slammed on the brakes, unhurt. _

_The black car rolled down the trees and into a ditch that was oddly, void of any vegetation. It came to a halt, upright with the right side facing the road. _

_Nobody had time to even scream and soon the trucker driver took off again with a worried look on his face. But he knew there was nothing he could do from the looks of the red-stained car. _

_A face with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes emerged from below the window, her eyes peering at the truck through the empty window as it sped away. Her expression was pained and her face was cut and bruised from glass and being jostled around. Then she changed. Her eyes turned dark, nearly black, and her expression went into a scary dead blank; there was no emotion._

"_Edward." She whispered to the road and trees since there was no one left to listen._

"_Alice was right. It was either change or die." Her voice seemed to echo in the emptiness and her eyes seemed to look at the air as if seeing more. Then her blackish eyes closed and her head disappeared as she collapsed._

_Blood wreaked the crash site in a metallic smell as it was spread from the bodies and into the car. A scream echoed from the iron coffin._

I froze, and I heard Alice freeze downstairs and drop whatever she was holding.

But I only faintly heard this, for I focused more on what had just been seen inside of her head.

Bella, my Bella, dying. Killed in a car crash in the middle of a backroads highway, with nobody to care for her. _My_ Bella.

I cry, no a bloodcurdling scream of pure agony erupted from my lips as my brain processed this and everyone downstairs looked up to my room in shock.

"What the hell was that?" Irina said in shock.

"Alice, what happened?" Tanya asked, worried for me.

Alice, I saw from multiple eyes, was frozen in horror. Her mouth was open and a silent scream of agony ripped through her throat. All the Cullens winced.

Carlisle gasped, figuring it out. "No Alice, you-she didn't…"

Alice replayed the vision in her head, as if to confirm it to herself, and another scream of agony at the death of my angel ripped through the air.

"Edward? Was that Edward? Edward, what's wrong?" Esme yelled up to me.

"That doesn't sound good…" Kate said. "He sounds like he's in pain. What could Alice of saw that could of done that to him?"

"No!" Esme cried, knowing exactly what could do just that. She erupted into sobs.

"Not…" Emmett said, horrified.

"It can't be…" Rose said.

"But she's not…there's no way Alice saw her…" Jasper was dying inside with all these emotions in the air, but some of the horror was his own.

"Not her." Carlisle said in agony at the mounting evidence that what Alice saw was what he thought.

"She's going to die." Alice said her voice panicky and eager; eager to find out exactly what brought this on and where Bella was so that she could save her. Alice started to flip through earlier visions in an attempt to see a road sign or something.

For the first time in two whole months I rose in a blur and dashed down the stairs. Everyone was shocked to see me out and Esme cried louder at the expression of pain on my face. The Denalis suddenly realized just how much Bella meant to me.

I brutally grabbed Alice's arm and dragged her to the fastest car we had, Alice's brand new Porsche that Jasper got her for Christmas. I threw her into the passenger seat and started the car. I needed to get to her and stop this from happening, right now. Good thing this has got a full tank of gas.

Alice was still lost in her visions so when Jasper grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car she wasn't there enough to stop me form growling at him.

"What the hell Edward?" He growled right back.

"I have to find her. Alice is coming with me." I ground out. I didn't have time for this; Bella's life was at stake every second I spent here!

"Then I'm coming too." He growled and jumped into the back seat. Emmett and Rose were right behind him.

"Us too Edward. We need to make sure you don't do anything stupid." Rose said. They added themselves to the pile in the back seat.

"We'll follow." Carlisle said, comfortingly. _And we'll hurry too._

"Fine." I snarled and jumped back into the driver's seat. I pulled out of the driveway faster than ever before and flew down the road to save my love.

"We'll have to start at Fork's Edward; I don't know where they are. We may already be too late." Alice said.

I growled at her and glared at the road.

It was a mistake to leave her, I realized now. It was a mistake to go through all that pain only to see her die in one of Alice's visions. A vision that I will never allow to come true.

I WILL find Bella. My Bella.

BPOV:

I woke to sound of Renee yelling.

"Turn around NOW! Dammit Phil, turn around!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs and I realized that someone had turned the music off, causing me to wake.

"Renee! Calm down this instant!" Josie yelled back, trying to sooth the m=woman.

Just as Phil turned the corner, Renee stopped screaming and her face went pale as a ghost. Or a vampire.

Turned to see the giant truck come at our vehicle full speed. Phil tried to turn the car as it slammed into Charlie's side.

The glass windows erupted into a thousand shards and rained down on the rest of us as the door was crushed under the truck's weight. I was slammed into the side door and I faintly heard several loud cracks that I recognized from James' attack as the breaking of bones. The world started to spin and turn in circles as the sounds of crunching of metal and the silence screams filled the air.

The dizzying spinning stopped and I took a minute to realize what was going on.

My head was in my lap and my neck hurt from being swung around in this metal contraption. My shoulder and right side was sore and bruised from being smashed into the car door. I was sliced all over with superficial cuts. Most still had shards left in them, preventing the wounds from bleeding too much.

I warily raised my head and the pain that shot through my right wrist overcame the other. Well, that was definitely broken beyond repair.

I looked out the window to see the fire truck-red truck drive away, barely damaged.

_Edward would have killed you for leaving the scene like that. You don't leave a family alone on the road after crashing into them! You call 911! _I mentally yelled at the guy as he left.

_Edward…I love you._

I wanted to say it out loud to him, but I felt like there was something better for me to say; more final. He knew that I loved him so saying that as a goodbye would be useless.

"Edward." This time there was not rebuttal from Josie or sad stare from Charlie. Only silence answered my words. But I knew he would hear them, somehow.

"Alice was right. It was either change or die."

The smell of blood became overpowering and my blackish eyes-I knew they were black because the hole in my chest was very much present at this moment and was constricting my breathing-closed. The metallic rust-and-salt combination was too much, and I passed out just as I heard a girly scream come from beside me.

_Josie…_

Whoa, I really lay the angst and sorrow on heavy, don't I? That was one hell of a beginning. More surprises will come in my incredible journey.

~Sweevil Out!


	3. The Recovery: Good Citizens

Disclaimer: I only own Josie and I don't even like her that much.

A/N- I'm really starting to like this story so I may start writing it on a daily basis instead of just on days my writer's block attacks me. I hate that thing-writer's block is one of the seven evils of the world. Yes, there are seven: politicians, siblings, homework, chocolate chip cookie shortages, truth or dare, naughty words (you know what they are), and writers block. If you don't agree, tell me what you think the seven evils of the world are.

EPOV:

I was flying down the road at around 195 miles per an hour when Alice gasped beside me.

"What?" four voices immediately asked her. One of them, also the loudest, was mine.

"It got blurry." Alice said. "Some outside decisions has interrupted the future; I can't see if Bella is going to live or die anymore!"

"What was it before?" Jasper asked. Alice gave a sad frown in my direction.

"Her future disappeared after that last vision. I was looking right before that for a chance road sign or something but I wasn't seeing anything. But this blurriness is good Edward." She said.

"How?" Emmett asked before I could. I wanted to growl at him as I took a sharp turn on the now winding road. I was going at nearly 200 miles per an hour now. I crossed the Alaskan border and entered Canada barely three minutes ago. I'd only been on the road twenty minutes.

"Well, this means she has a chance of surviving. It's not a definite chance, but it is one." Alice was nodding her head as she said this, trying to cheer us all up.

"I hope we find her soon." Rose sighed. We all looked at the blonde in shock.

Rosalie looked like she might have blushed if she had the ability. "I care about her too; or at least now I do. I realized she makes you happy Edward and I should begrudge you for that and make it harder for you two by complicating your relationship. You do that well enough on your own." By the end she was glaring at me but I deserved it. Twenty minutes of thinking that Bella was going to die had really shocked things into place for me. I feel bad for what Jasper had been going through, feeling my emotions and all.

"So, has this blurriness turned into anything final yet?" I asked Alice. She beamed back.

"Nope, but it's hope." She said. I had a feeling things were getting clearer and clearer inside that spiky little head of her's.

Third Person POV:

A family known as the Simmersons was driving down the tree infested highways that were known to this part of Michigan. They had lived in the state all of their lives, even the oldest and driver, Wally Simmerson. His wife, Dara Simmerson was reading the road map in front of her while the youngest Simmerson, little Miss Joey Simmerson, sat in the back seat playing with her Gameboy. The eight year old child loved all technology and wanted to a robot maker when she grew up. She didn't know the technical word for the job.

As the family drove down the road they saw a sign saying that there was a fork in the road up ahead.

"Which way dear?" Wally asked his wife of twelve years.

"Ah, take a left." She replied. Obediently, Wally turned to the left on the road and the family watched as the vegetation got thicker and thicker as they drove along.

"Are you sure we went the right way?" Wally asked. Dara sighed.

"No. Sorry honey but I'm completely lost with this thing. I can't read these maps." The woman sighed in defeat and folded the massive map up, tossing it on the floorboard of the mini van.

"It's OK mommy, we'll find a town soon." Joey said, not oblivious to her mother's frustration. Joey felt like they were going the right way though as a deep red truck passed the family. They all noticed that the front of the truck looked a little messed up.

"I wonder…" Dara trailed off, not realizing she had said anything out loud.

"Me too." Wally said, oblivious to the movement of his mouth just like his wife.

The Simmersons continued along the road, slowing as they came to a sharp turn to the right. Joey looked out her window as her father made the turn at about half the speed limit.

Dara looked out the window too, and let out a horrified scream when she saw the sight before her. Wally slammed on the breaks.

A black car was down in a ditch, it's right side facing the Simmersons. The windows were gone, smashed-they could tell by the pieces still left connected to the frame. They barely registered the blood that showed through on the outer edges of the window frames and windshield frame in a way that resembled splatter paint.

Dara screamed again and Wally parked the car on the side of the road with trembling hands. Joey stared out the window, captivated at the scene. She had never seen a car crash before and her parents never let her watch the news, so the sight of car mangled and covered with blood was brand new for her.

"Cool," the child whispered. Joey was suddenly pondering the idea of being one of those people who cut open dead bodies to see how they died. She didn't know what they were called either.

"WALLY! Call 911! Call someone! They're hurt!" Dara was screaming her head off and staring wide-eyed at the black car.

Wally Simmerson opened his door and ran down to the ditch were the car lay with much haste. Dara wobbled behind him, barely keeping as tears - tears for these poor hurt strangers - fell blindingly. She could barely see the ground beneath her feet.

Wally and Dara got to the front door of the car, looking at the people who were inside.

In the driver's seat was a middle-aged man with light brown hair that completely covering his head. His neck was snapped clean in half and barely any flesh was still left connecting it to his body. Cuts covered every inch of his body from the window beside him. His torso had been stabbed in the left side from where the metal door had twisted inward and turned into a crude point.

Next to him was a woman - or the remains of a woman. Her body was hard to see clearly from all the glass that was in her. Almost every inch of her body and clothes was stabbed with glass, which pointed pout like quills on a porcupine. Red reflections from the glass made her true features hard to see.

Three people were in the back. One man was a mangled form with what they presumed was arms and legs, but they were bent way too many times to see like real limbs. Covered in a sheet of red that slowly dripped onto the floor of the car, they could barley make out the male features. He barely seemed human and the pain must have been unbareable.

Next was a woman who sat upright in her seat, as if still riding. Her soft ginger hair blended slightly with the red on her face. Her skin was visible in many patches since she seemed to have received less damage than the other three. Though that left leg didn't look like it was bent in the right direction to Wally…

The last one was girl. She looked like a teenager to Dara, with long brown-black hair that was spotted with red blood. She had he head in her lap which blocked view of any injures she sustained to her chest and face. She was pale looking but to Dara's shock she moved up and down.

"Wally, she's breathing!" Dara screamed to hope at Wally, who jumped in fright at the volume before realizing this was true.

Wally pulled harshly and managed to open the bloody and beat-up car door. The girl fell to the ground which had been torn up from the car's bowling ball impression.

Dara flipped her over and checked her pulse and breathing. "Wally, she's not breathing!"

Wally, having been a nurse for six years, leaned down over the girl and began to perform CPR on the girl. After about three times she began to breathe again, much to the couple's relief.

"The redhead is alive too." Joey said from right behind her father. Dara jumped at her daughter's voice so close behind her.

"Joey! Get back into the car this instant young lady-this is nothing you need to see." Dara commanded. Joey ignored her mother and continued to talk.

"Don't you see her chest moving too? Hurry and get the redhead out before she dies." Joey's voice was so calm at the sight of the dead bodies that Wally couldn't help but be impressed by his daughter. This was the kind of calm he had seen on ambulance drivers and nurses.

"Dara, get the woman out too. Joey honey, do you know how to call 911. Yes that's right, just like mommy and daddy taught you." Wally said, coaching his daughter along as she called the emergency operator and explained the situation.

"They'll be here as soon as possible." Joey told them.

Dara was struggling to get the skinny woman out, but she managed, and now the redhead was lying right beside the petite girl. Both were breathing but neither was awake. Wally was wiping the blood of the girl's face with caution as Joey ran from the car and back carrying old rags which Dara tore apart for bandages. All three family members took these homemade bandages and pressed down on the largest cuts that the girls had sustained.

A groan sounded from the woman with ginger hair and immediately Wally began to talk to her, encouraging her to wake up.

"Hello? Hello, miss? Are you awake? Can you open your eyes and speak to me? Miss?" Wally repeated the questions continuously but the woman only responded in groans.

"She is going to wake up soon, right mommy? And the big girl too?" Joey seemed like a little kid again, her odd adult-like faze seeming to be over.

Dara smiled down at her daughter. "I hope so honey, but I'm not able to see the future. I can't tell you what will happen but Joey sweetie, she may never wake up."

Joey's eyes were sad as she looked at the girl. "Pleeeaaassseee wake up. Pretty please wake up. My mommy and daddy would be sad if you died, mystery girl. Please wake up."

Dara and Wally smiled at their daughter's golden heart but look down at the two females with worry-were they really OK? Or were there internal injures killing them as they sat here, helpless. They didn't know these women but helping them was the least they could do when two lives were at stake.

The roar of an ambulance echoed through the trees and Wally raised his head towards the sound. The red and white vehicle came to a sudden stop right behind the Simmerson mini van.

Instantly four men jumped out dressed in regular ambulance attendant clothing. They rushed, with stretchers in had, to the two girls. Both teams lifted the victims onto the stretchers before going back to the ambulance. As the girls were loaded into two different ambulances, police officers arrived at the scene. Firefighters were here too, but their services were not required and they left soon after the ambulances.

A police man with a western mustache came up to the Simmersons with a young man-probably a newbie-and a middle-aged blonde woman at his sides.

"Hello, my name is Chief Gardner. This is Deputy Waters" he pointed to the blonde woman, "and Officer Daniels. Now please sir, can you tell me who you are?"

Wally smiled at the man and reached out to shake the Chief's. "My name is Wally Simmerson and this is my wife, Dara, and our daughter Joey." Dara gave a worried smile to the police officers but Joey just frowned.

"Are the redhead woman and the bigger girl going to be alright?" She asked them. The Chief and his officers smiled at the tiny girl's innocence, loving the child immediately.

"We are going to find out in a while sweetie. Now why don't you come with me over here and you can tell me what happened." Deputy Waters said. Joey smiled at the blonde woman and Dara nodded her head yes, giving the two permission to walk off. Dara had always fully trusted people of the law and this time was no exception.

"What happened here Mr. Simmerson?" Chief Gardner asked.

"My family and I were driving by when we saw this car overturned on the side of the road. My wife and I got out to help whoever it was that was stuck inside. Dara saw the girl breathing and Joey said the woman was alive. We got them both out safely and since I'm a nurse, I tried to stabilize their breathing and heartbeats to the best of my ability." Wally said.

Chief Gardner and Officer Daniels both looked appreciably at the couple, amazed at the feats these three went to for complete strangers in trouble.

"I have to say I'm impressed with your heroics Mr. and Mrs. Simmerson." Officer Daniels said.

"Impressed? I'm beyond impressed. If I'd had anyone find me after a car accident I'd want it to be people like you Mr. Simmerson, Mrs. Simmerson." Chief Gardner said. Mrs. Simmerson blushed at the compliment as Joey and Deputy Waters returned, Joey skipping to an unknown tune.

"Can we go to the hospital to see the bigger girl now mommy?" Joey asked. Her sweet little girl voice was irresistible with the puppy-dog eyes that went along with them.

"Sure thing sweetie; and the woman too. I hope they're alright." Dara Simmerson fretted.

Joey and Wally nodded and the Deputy gave them all a police escort to the hospital as the Chief and Officer Daniels stayed behind with hopes of finding some legal documents that would reveal the woman and teenager's identities.

BPOV:

Darkness.

Pain.

Darkness.

More pain.

I think I see something other than darkness here. But I'm not sure yet.

Pains are growing, getting stronger and clearer. So why isn't the darkness fading?

Dimmer. It's getting dimmer instead.

But is that a good thing?

Pain.

I remember screaming.

But who was screaming?

The pain is getting clearer now, but it's still slow.

My brain is clearing up; I believe I can think clearly again.

Dimmer.

Spoke. Somebody spoke.

But who?

Pain is clearer now. Much clearer.

They are doing it again. The light is getting dimmer and my ears feel like they are being sucked into a vortex.

Words. Those are definitely words.

Clearer. Dimmer. Brighter.

"-ep…-eart… –ting! -er heart…fadi-g in…-ut; w-…that continue! …-ed to sta-ze it, -ast!"

Nonsense. A-all I hear is nonsense.

But words are words and I'm happy to hear them, even jumbled up like a jigsaw puzzle.

I struggle to hear something, feel something. But all I can feel now is pain.

Like someone shot me. And pushed me into a cactus. And beat me with a baseball bat. And let me get torn to pieces by a dog. And hit me with a truck…

A truck! I was hit with a truck. And a girl was screaming.

A girl with cat ears who rode around in a truck with her band and solved mysteries…no, not that.

Yes that! Josie was screaming. Josie, like Josie and the Pussy Cats. My favorite show from when I was a kid.

The pain hit me again, and I realized that I was still alive. Because death didn't hurt so badly. Death hurt the way fog hurt; it clouded up your thoughts and control until it took over.

Or was that chloroform I was describing…?

People. People are speaking again.

"Do w- need to med-cate her for…pain?"

"Y-s, any addi-al pain during the surgery…push her mind ove- the edge!"

The words weren't nonsense anymore, weren't puzzles my mind couldn't solve. They were language, real language that I could hear and process and understand.

Only they didn't need to worry about pushing my mind over the edge. It went there a long time ago.

Surgery? I was going into surgery? Then there must be at least a slim chance for me to survive.

Survive. All I ever have done in my life-survive.

But I can't survive without Edward. Because when I was with him I didn't just survive.

I lived.

"Edward."

"Did you hear something?"

"I think the patient is conscious!"

"Edward, will I survive?"

"Did you catch that?"

"I heard survive, the rest is mumbo-jumbo."

"Will you help me survive? I want a chance to live again."

"Doctor Bradshaw, the patient is alive and conscious! I repeat; she is alive and conscious!"

"Are you surviving? Or are you living?"

"I'm here!"

"Are we still going to perform the surgery right away or should we see how conscious she is first? All she's speaking is a mumbled mess at the moment but I think her mind is clearing up!"

"Come back. I want to live again. Come back."

"Sedate her; she needs this surgery immediately. If we put it off she may not make it alive."

"OK."

"I'm vain. You say I'm selfless but I'm vain. I want to live again.

"But not without you."

"Inserting inject…now!"

Darkness came at full force and like chloroform, or fog, I could no longer fight it.

"OK. Now gentlemen, let us begin."

Nice. Not one of my better chapter but hey, at least it's an update. Hope you like it though.

New chappie soon! I like this story!

Wish me luck on my first real band competition on Saturday! Go Jaguars! Jungle Fever!

~Sweevil Out!


	4. The Recovery: Progress

Disclaimer: I'm running out of things to say for this considering all the stories I've done. So I own nothing OK?

A/N- I think I realized the order that I am updating in: MPW, SOLAL, and then this story. So it's The Incredible Journey's turn! Yay!

Also, I'm making Bella seventeen because it suits this story better. So pretend the Cullens never through Bella a birthday party because her birthday hasn't rolled around yet.

BPOV:

Awake, I was awake. But where was I waking up?

"Miss? Miss, are you awake?" An unfamiliar voice drifted into my dark solitude and I cracked my eyes open.

Bright, it was too bright. I quickly shut my eyes again.

Trying to form words, I opened my mouth and forced my vocal cords to make some sort of verbal communication. But all that came out was a loud painful-sounding groan.

"She's responding. Doctor, do we have anything to help her wake up?"

"Yes but we need to let her wake up on her own; it will be better for her brain."

I groaned again in relief this time-no more needles putting strange medicines into my system.

"Where am I?" I moaned. I think they understood my words this time because the doctor guy answered.

"A hospital. You were fatally injured in a hit-and-run accident. We managed to get you into surgery just in time. If we had waited any longer you more than likely would have died. How do you feel?" This man's voice was smooth like I remembered Carlisle's was but it didn't sooth me very well as panic overcame me-what had been my family's fate?

"I feel…"I checked over myself internally. "Dizzy. Confused. My throat hurts a bit as does my head. I can't feel my wrist at all. Is it broken? My whole body aches badly. I don't know if I can move too much. How's my family?"

I had just barely managed to say all of that before my voice gave out. I felt something cold and hard touch my lips and water began to pour into my mouth. I opened my lips so that I could drink more of it.

"Your family…didn't fare nearly as well as you did Miss. I'm sad to say all were found dead at the scene aside from one red-haired woman. Is she your relative?" The non-soothing voice continued to ask. I decided that by now the light would be bearable and opened my eyes.

Instead of being met with bright light the room was dim with only a few lights shining. That was good-I don't think my eyes would have been able to handle medical-quality lighting. At my bedside but respectively distanced away from me was a doctor. I knew he was a doctor by the white coat he wore. Underneath was a pair of scrubs colored blue and white tennis shoes.

"My name is Doctor Biggerstaff. And this is Nurse Jason Crocker. Can you remember anything Miss?" Doctor Biggerstaff asked her. Jason was a few steps behind Doctor Biggerstaff and was smiling slightly at me.

I blinked a few spots away and tried to focus on what happened.

"Renee was yelling about Phil's driving and then everyone was spinning, tumbling til the world stopped. Then…" I mentally decided that telling them about my crazy talk-to-someone-who-isn't-there episodes was a horrible idea. "…the smell of blood knocked me out. Then somebody said something about surgery?" The last part was a question for I was uncertain about whether that was real or just a dream. Everything between the crash and now was blurry-I must have been dreaming.

"Yes-you have a good memory compared to most critical patients that have experienced such a horrible event. Do you think you could tell me your name Miss? Along with some basic information?" Doctor Biggerstaff was polite like he should be and I managed to smile softly at him. He seemed like a great doctor-I had gotten lucky.

"My name is Bella Swan." I took a second to remember my full name. "Isabella Marie Swan. But call me Bella-I don't like Isabella. I'm seventeen years old an in my last year of high school. My father is Charlie Swan, ex-police chief of Forks, Washington. His wife-my step-mom- is Josie Stewart, now Swan. My real mom is Renee…I can't remember her new last name but she lives in Phoenix with my step-dad Phil. That all I remember besides Josie and Charlie had just been married and we were moving to…Michigan. Yes, Michigan."

I was proud of myself-I remembered so much of my life aside from my time with the Cullens. Those times were permanently ingrained into my memory-no amount of trauma could remove their faces from my mind no matter how much I might want it too.

No, I was lying. No matter how much misery they unintentionally caused me, I would still love them.

All of them.

"Good, this is good!" Jason said enthusiastically. He seemed even more thrilled than the doctor that I remembered so much.

"Yes, this is splendid. Your recovery seems, from this point on, to be smooth sailing. But I sadly must inform you that one of the other victims, a redheaded woman who was seated beside you, is not doing as well. Do you think you could come with me to see her and help me identify which of your relatives she is?" Doctor Biggerstaff asked.

I nodded eagerly before holding my head in pain-that had been a bad idea.

Jason helped me into a wheelchair and wheeled me out of the room and into the halls.

For the first time I looked at myself. I actually looked better off than after James' attack. My left wrist was in a cast and I was covered in bandages but at least wrappings were lighter and softer than plaster. My lungs ached and I realized that I must have broken at least three of them.

"Why did you have to put me into surgery?" I asked Jason. I didn't look like I had been into live-saving surgery. That reminded me. "How long have I been out?" I asked urgently.

"Hush, calm down Bella. You had to have surgery because one of your broken ribs had pierced your right lung and a piece of glass had cut into your neck pretty bad. Those two things combined were enough to be very serious. Though I don't have high hopes for your wrist either-it was pretty badly damaged." Jason was now looking at me sympathetically and I avoided his gaze. I'd always hated pity.

"As for how long you've been out, it's only been a couple of hours. Right now it's pretty late, but we needed some type of lead as to who this woman is pretty badly."

I frowned at Jason's words as Doctor Biggerstaff opened a door and lead us inside. I gasped at the sight before me.

Josie was laying in a hospital bed and resembled what I believe I looked like after the attack in Phoenix. Josie was covered in gauze and not really moving though the heart and breathing monitors claimed she was alive. Her face was pale and her red hair a mess as it was sprayed around her head. She twitched as the door closed shut.

"Hello Doctor," the nurse currently on duty for this victim said politely. "We haven't gotten and response from her that would show she is conscious but I don't think we could have expected anything so soon. She's breathing normally but hasn't really moved at all-she's still as a statue."

_Or a vampire_, I thought sarcastically as I looked at Josie's still form. I didn't like the woman but she looked like she was in a lot of pain.

"Which one of your family members is this Bella?" Doctor Biggerstaff asked me.

"Josie," I chocked out; my throat still didn't feel one hundred percent. "Josie Swan."

Doctor Biggerstaff nodded and looked at Josie critically. "Alright, this girl needs rest. Jason, roll her back to her room so she can get a good night's sleep; she's had a rough day. Carol, let's see if we can hunt down those painkillers, the pain might be the reason she hasn't woken yet." Doctor Biggerstaff seemed to be going straight into doctor mode-something I had seen happen to Carlisle whenever I had gotten seriously injured-as Jason wheeled me to my room.

"You really should have stayed. I need your support." I muttered to Edward as tears of realization hit me. Everyone was dead except Josie. I really was alone now, in an unfamiliar place.

Alone.

The word haunted me like a scary movie haunts little kids and I cried into my hands as Jason provided soothing words and eased me back into my hospital bed. The smells of antiseptic and cleaners filled my nose as salty tears filled my eyes and everything became too much for my emotions to handle. My brain shut down.

EPOV:

_An unfamiliar man frowned at the teenage girl as she fainted in the bed, tears still falling from her eyes._

"_Poor thing," He muttered quietly, obviously feeling great pity for the girl. "Wish I could help her."_

_The man sighed and went to report to the doctor who was in another room, shutting the wooden door silently behind him._

I blinked out of the vision at the same time Alice did. Alice looked down sadly.

"Poor Bella," she muttered. Then her eyes blazed and she looked at the road in front of us in determination. "We will find you and take you home Bella. Don't you worry about a thing."

I nodded at my sister. "You're right. We will find her."

I pressed the gas even harder as we zoomed down the road through Canada and towards the United States. Or more importantly, Washington.

BPOV:

I woke up the next morning to find my eyes were dry and gritty. I rubbed them for a few minutes before blinking away any other sleepiness in them. I needed to be awake to face a new day.

Sunlight, my savior, came into the room through opening between the curtains. It made lines of light that cut through the room and highlighted certain parts like the lamp on a coffee table against the far right wall and her left hand which still had a heavy cast on it. I experimentally tried to raise the monstrosity but it refused to move-my arm muscles were too weak.

I sighed at this and turned to the wooden door, preoccupying my mind by trying to discover what type of wood the door was made of. Was it oak or fir? Maybe pine…

"Good morning. Looks like you are all up and awake." Jason said cheerfully as he opened the door, food in hand. My stomach growled as I eyed the plastic tray the housed bacon, eggs, juice, and an apple.

Jason laughed. "Well you seem hungry."

I laughed too. "And you seem oddly cheery. What's got your mood up?" I really only asked to be polite for what I was really focusing on was the food before me. Jason set the tray down and I began eating the food as fast as possible.

"Josie woke up about twenty minutes ago." Jason said happily. He looked like he was about to break out into song or something. "Chances are she'll regain her full memory within a year, also." He continued.

"WHAT!" I yelled at him. Josie lost her memory? She has amnesia? WTH?

"Yeah," Jason said. "When she woke up we asked her the same questions we asked you. She didn't know who you were, who her husband was, she didn't even know herself. It's a good thing you had all of you memory or we'd be more lost than she is. But her amnesia is temporary and Doctor Biggerstaff says that it may take a year at the most for a majority of her memory to come back. But hey, that means that there's hope for a regular life for her again, isn't it?"

I was gaping at the nurse. Was he insane? A year; that was horrible, not good. What was he thinking?

"A year! Were you dropped on your head as a child? This is horrible! She may never regain her memory, she may have forgotten her life forever, the doctors may be wrong…And you're practically whistling show tunes!" I screamed at him.

Jason seemed to be very easygoing considering he just shrugged my little rant off and kept on smiling. "Yeah, you could be right. _Or_ she could regain her entire memory within the next month. You never know and I, personally, tend to be optimistic." Jason smiled as he took the now-empty tray off my lap.

"Well I'm not! And you could be completely wrong!" I continued to yell.

"Or not," He practically sang and I wanted to throw something at him for reminding me of all the times Alice had been beyond cheerful and I had been a worried mess. Memories and tears were not what I needed right now.

Jason exited my room before I yell a retort at him and I growled in frustration-like Alice, it appeared my nurse was impossible to deter from being happy when he wanted to be. I groaned loudly.

This was going to be one interesting recovery.

I can't wait.

EPOV:

As we came closer and closer to Washington-we got held up around three a.m. because of some bad traffic-I felt a sort of hope come through me. It would be simple: We would just ask around and find out where Bella went and then follow Alice's visions til we found out what hospital she is in.

Of course that was where we hit a rough spot.

"No, dammit!" Alice cried/growled angrily.

"What now?" I groaned. Of course nothing would be easy-this was my life, wasn't it?

"Agh, Bella's future it at a humongous crossroads right now and so many choices are possible with so many variables that I can't see straight! Agh, why her, why Bella? I can't see straight!" Alice was clearly pissed beyond belief at this revelation and everyone moaned in unison-this just made everything else harder.

"OK Alice; what made her future like this?" Rose asked, rubbing her temples even thought she could never have a real headache again.

BPOV:

"Since you have no more relatives who could watch over you at the moment, you step mother is still in recovery and you still haven't finished high school, it has been decided that you will temporarily be put into foster care." A strange man in a professional-looking suit told me.

I stared at him for a moment before my brain fully processed the information.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Hahahahahaha! I made a HUGE cliffhanger! Awesome huh, Bella's going into foster care. How will the Cullen's find her now? It's nearly impossible to track foster kids down, or at least that's what I've heard. Oh well, lets see how this works out for her.

This was comparable short but huge plot wise. Review please!

More of the Journey continues!

~Sweevil Out!


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